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September/October 2011 Spirituality
Growing Your Life Garden

by Heather Marie Wilson

Planting a garden saved my life, but it was the incredible journey inward that really made the difference for me.

In my garden, I needed to make sure that all the elements were present — earth, water, air, fire (the sun) and spirit — to keep things alive in the garden. Different plants need different amounts of each, but they all need the same basic elements. As I looked at those elements, I recognized that we need to have certain aspects present in our lives as well. We need security (earth), health and well?being (water), relationships (air), vocation (fire), and creative expression (spirit) to live a fulfilling life of freedom and joy.

In my vegetable garden, I needed to make sure that in order to thrive, I provided it with all of those elements on a daily basis. Since I was applying those principles to my “life,” I termed what I was cultivating my “life garden.”

Heather Marie Wilson

Planting the seed of focus in your life involves becoming clear about what your values are. What matters to you? What do you hold in high regard? What do you respect and require in your life? What can’t you live without (or with)?

Your core values are the things you rate most crucial in your life. They’re what influence the choices you make, the way you behave, the kinds of people you choose to interact with, and the way you spend your time. So would you say that beauty, freedom, love, abundance or productivity are most important to you? Or do you prefer to have fun or pay attention to detail?

However you respond, note that your life garden should always reflect the essence of your core values, so cultivating relationships with whatever you hold dear is at the bedrock of a healthy garden. Exploring your values is also a good way to tap into the essence of who you are right now.

What Matters to You?

Look at each word or phrase in the core values list and consider it carefully. If you feel that it describes what you value most in life, write it down in your journal or notebook. Be sure to only choose the words that you value. That is, those which are really important in all aspects of your life. Remember that we all embody many of these words, so be a bit discriminating and don’t write down every single one. You may also add any of your own if you don’t see them listed.

Now, go through all the words you wrote down and select 10 that are critical to have in your life. Write those 10 words on a new page in your journal.

Next, you’re really going to tap into your inner self and find out what matters most to you. From the previous list, select the three to five words that are absolutely essential to have in your life — these represent the essence of who you are. That is, if you had to pick three or four words to describe what you value most in life, what would they be? Write those words on a new page in your journal.

You can use your words to start the creation of your life garden. There are no good or bad, right or wrong, or should-have words. These are merely tools to help you discover what you personally value. When I did this exercise, I discovered that my top four values are connection, freedom, creativity and joy. These four words describe my essence.

As you start to cultivate your garden based on your values, you may focus on a specific skill, growth area, or aspect of yourself and find that your life — and everything in it — begins to change and evolve.

Heather Marie Wilson is the author of Seeds of Freedom: Cultivating a Life That Matters. Visit www.heathermariewilson.com. Excerpted with permission by Hay House at www.hayhouse.com.